


Come Back To The World

by Anonymous



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Comas - Freeform, Gen, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, injuries, keeping vigil, post-shooting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-16
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-24 00:10:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14943956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Best friends argue. It's a fact of life.Your best friend doesn't usually get shot after an argument in a completely unrelated incident.Morgan sits vigil at Reid's bedside.





	Come Back To The World

**Author's Note:**

> Written for TheWhumpExchange 2018. 
> 
> Sorry it's late, Giftee! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

Derek Morgan stared hard at his boarding pass, trying to understand how it had come to this. 

Arguments between best friends happened all the time. It was just a way of nature. Then again, that usually didn't end in said best friend getting shot by a madman. 

Okay, maybe madman was a little harsh. Scared homeless teenager robbing a convenience store to feed his siblings...that sounded more sad and less like a madman. 

Morgan shook his head again. It seemed even stranger that Reid hadn't gotten shot in the line of duty. Just going to get his morning coffee...

When the phone rang, Savannah answered. He'd been in the shower, getting ready for just another day. He would never forget the look on her face as he came out of the shower. She greyed in a way he hadn't seen since she was pregnant. 

_What's wrong?_ he mouthed, staring at her. _Who is it?_

_Reid._ She held the phone out to him. 

After the call ended, he booked the first flight he could get to DC. Savannah had no qualms on letting him go. She knew how close they were. She knew Reid would wake up and need Derek right there. 

"How is he?" he asked, meeting Garcia right at the gate. "Any change?" 

Penelope Garcia exhaled, her entire body heaving with the effort. She tucked a lock of stray hair behind her ear as she looked thoughtful. "No change. He's hanging in there." 

Morgan closed his eyes, trying to remember their last conversation. It seemed impossible to remember what their argument had been about. Knowing them, it was something trivial like the mass of pudding. 

They had stupid arguments all the time. Rarely were they serious. That was why Morgan convinced himself it hadn't been serious this time. 

Besides, they ALWAYS made up by the next call or text. Reid and Morgan NEVER stayed mad at each other very long. 

"Tell me again." Morgan followed Garcia out to her pink Fiat. "What happened?" 

"He stopped for a late night coffee- one of those burnt too-strong diner nightmares. As he waited for his order, a kid- a damn kid no older than 15- came in with a gun." Garcia exhaled, doing her best to find the strength to continue the story. "Reid, being Reid, approached him to calm the situation. The kid panicked and fired 3 times. One shot hit in the shoulder. One grazed his head, mainly nicking the ear. The third shot hit straight in the abdomen." 

"And the coma?" Morgan adjusted the seat so it would accomodate his height. 

"Hit his head on the way down. Concussion. Major surgery issues." Garcia sniffled, tears beginning to fill her eyes. "They WANT to say he'll be fine but what do they know? Doctors get it wrong all the time." 

Morgan stared at the carpet as she pulled out. He didn't want to hear things like this but he knew he needed to. He needed to know exactly what Reid was up against. 

The thought of all this drove Morgan mad. He couldn't imagine a world that didn't have Spencer Reid in it. He was Hank's Godfather. He'd probably end up being the Godfather to any other kids they had. 

Hell, Morgan would build the 'Spencer Reid Legacy Library' at Hank's fancy preschool if it meant his best friend would pull through. 

It seemed like an extreme reaction but then again, this was most definitely an extreme situation. 

"Don't think like that, Derek Morgan." Garcia wagged her finger as she spoke. "Seriously...don't think like that. Pretty Boy's going to be just fine. You know it. I know it. Heck, I even think he knows it." 

"I know, Baby Girl, I know." 

They drove to the hospital in silence. Neither one of them really wanted to voice the main thing circling their brains. 

What would happen if Spencer died? 

"He doesn't look so great but the good thing is he is breathing on his own," Garcia warned, her gaze focused on the glass windows of the ICU bay. "Just be prepared. Oh and if anyone asks, you're his brother. It's supposed to be family only. I'm sure the hospital's onto us but luckily, they don't seem to care as long as we respect them." 

"Good." 

He followed her into the hospital room. True to her word, Reid wasn't looking so good. His head was bound in layers of gauze. He had multiple IVs. Different wires and tubes led to different things. Morgan wasn't super sure what any of them really did. 

Really- this was his worst nightmare. 

"Hey, Pretty Boy." Morgan settled into a hard-backed vinyl chair. "I hope you can hear me." He reached out, cautiously stroking one of Reid's still hands. "I'm sorry about the way we argued. I don't even remember what it was about at this point." 

Morgan talked and talked and talked. He did it to fill the silence. He didn't want to sit in a dead quiet ICU unit with just Garcia for company. 

He needed to imagine Reid's responses. If he concentrated hard enough, he could _just_ hear all the ways Reid could respond to his comment. 

"I'm going to get coffee, and give someone else a chance to visit. We've been sitting in the waiting room around the clock since everything happened." Garcia stood, stretching to work the kinks out of her back. "Black and strong, right?" 

"You know it, Baby Girl." 

He closed his eyes, using Garcia's absence as a chance for some needed peace. Maybe if he prayed hard enough, he could bring their Spencer back. 

The world still needed him. 

"With all the evil he sees on a regular basis, it's the actions of a scared kid that land him _here_." Morgan accepted the offered coffee. "What is wrong with the world?" 

"He saved the kid's life at the expense of himself," JJ said, sitting across the room. "If he hadn't gotten shot, things would have inevitably gotten worse." She sighed, her head coming to rest in her hands. "As far as I'm concerned, he's a hero." 

Morgan hadn't looked at it from that angle. It made sense more than anything else. 

That didn't make it much better but it at least put his mind at ease a little.   
\---  
Morgan had been keeping vigil for the last 16 hours. 

Reid hadn't gotten better. He hadn't gotten worse. He just lingered...somewhere. 

"Come on, Dude." Morgan cleared his throat, as his eyes began to burn with exhaustion. "Need you to come back to me." He stifled a groan. "Fine. If you come back, I will let you drag me to three- no- four geek conventions a year AND let you pick my costume." 

Desperate times called for desperate measures. 

As his head sank into his hands, he jumped back, startled to realize Reid's eyes were wide open and staring at him. 

"Did you mean that?" 

Morgan blinked back tears, surprised by his reaction. So, it had taken creative methods to bring his best friend back. 

"Yeah, Pretty Boy. I did." 

-fin-


End file.
